Natasha ~ Present
THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS, Jericho and I had been working on finding our normal. We saw each other most nights, and fit in lunches, movie dates, or just met for a cup of coffee, whenever we could.
Prime Beef was still going strong and business at Three Sisters was booming. Since we were going to have a weekend off for Millie’s bachelorette trip, we’d scheduled only a light load for our staff while we were away.
To make up for it, we had multiple events planned leading up to our mini-vacation.
After tons of applications and interviews, we’d decided to hire a well-qualified prior hotel catering manager to fill the new management position at Three Sisters. Tanisha Adams would be moving here from the city to take the position and was going to rent Millie’s old apartment.
In fact, she was due to arrive at any moment, and we were busy trying to get her area finalized before her arrival. We’d rearranged our offices and brought in another desk to give Tanisha her own space in our growing world.
It was exciting how much we’d grown in so little time, but at the same time, I found it a bit overwhelming.
What had started as just my sisters and me had grown with a kitchen manager, and now an events and catering manager. Yes, it would be nice to free up a little time for us and to share some of the responsibility, but, at the same time, it was hard to hand over control to someone who wasn’t us.
I was still going to do the accounting, but Tanisha would be taking over most of my other duties. As one of the owners, I’d still be involved and help with the planning and execution of events, but not as often as I had up until now.
It was strange, and my type A personality was already struggling with the transition.
“Tanisha is great. You saw her resume, spoke to her references, and said yourself upon meeting her that she’d fit in perfectly,” Dru said when she caught me worrying my bottom lip.
“I know,” I replied, then looked my sister in the eyes. “It’s just that . . . everything’s changing. And, yes, I know change is good, especially when it’s because of how well Three Sisters is doing, it’s just . . . hard for me to let go. Even a little bit.”
“I know,” Dru said, coming over to wrap her arms around my waist.
“But just think. This means we can take on more business, maybe work on that expansion we’ve been talking about . . . or, we can keep things as they are and have more free time for ourselves. You know Millie and Jackson are already talking babies, and when she gets pregnant, things will change even more. We’ll be grateful for the ability to have that time for our personal lives.”
I nodded, knowing she was right, but still, change had always been hard for me. I liked things to stay the same, to be in my control, and it seemed like in the last few months, everything had been constantly changing.
“It makes things like this bachelor/bachelorette trip possible,” Dru added. “And, I have to say, I cannot wait to see the look on Jackson’s face when he realizes that not only are we crashing their party, but the freaking luxury travel van Jericho rented is heading toward a literary adventure, rather than Vegas. He’s going to shit a brick!”
I laughed at that.
“Nice image,” I said wryly, wrinkling up my nose. “But yeah, you’re right, he’s going to be like a kid who just found out he’s going to Disney World for the first time. I can’t wait.”
“And, although I hate to say anything nice about him, it’s pretty freaking cool of Jericho to be funding this trip for all of us.”
I sighed and shook my head with a small smile.
“I tried to tell him it was too much, that we could at least pay for our own lodging, but he wouldn’t hear it. He said this group is like family and since he’s never been able to have a family of his own to take care of, he was excited to be able to do something for all of us.”
“Stop it, or you’re going to make me start liking the guy,” Dru joked softly.
But I turned to her and said seriously, “I really hope you will, because I think you were right . . . I still love him. I never stopped.”
“Oh, baby girl, I know,” Dru said, then gave me a kiss on the cheek before pulling away. “Enough of this mushy stuff, let’s finish down here, then do one last check of the apartment to make sure everything is squared away.”
Thirty minutes later we were through and ready for our new hire, just as she walked in the door.
“Hi,” Dru greeted, stepping forward to shake Tanisha’s hand.
“Welcome,” I added. “Can we help you bring anything in?”
“Hi, and yes, that would be great. I only have a couple bags. My brother will be bringing up the rest of my things this weekend,” Tanisha replied, shaking both of our hands then laughing. “I’m so excited to be here.”
I smiled in return, her obvious pleasure at coming to Three Sisters easing some of my nerves.
We went out and helped her grab her bags from her car, then showed her up to Millie’s . . . er, her apartment. It was furnished, although just with the basics, but it would be enough to get her by comfortably until her own things arrived.
“Wow, this is great,” Tanisha said as she pushed her bag to the side and looked around. “It’ll be so convenient to live right upstairs from work. No commute!”
Dru chuckled.
“Yes, being able to essentially roll out of bed and go to work is one of the best parts of living and working in the same building. I love my sleep.”
Tanisha nodded, and asked, “So, Dru, you’re right next door, and Natasha, you’re at the end of the hall?”
“That’s right,” I replied. “We’ll get out of your hair so you can get settled. Just holler if you need anything.”
“Thanks so much.”
Once we were out in the hall, Dru turned to me and said, “See, Tash, everything’s going to work out just fine. Sometimes, change is a good thing.”
I thought about all of the changes that had happened thus far, and realized she was right. We were all growing and changing for the better.